Turkish Court Acquits Author

Gursel said he and his lawyer do not believe the state institution has the right to judge a piece of art. "I wrote a novel, I didn't write a book on how to pray," said Gursel. "[The Religious Affairs Directorate] doesn't have the right to try to interpret a piece of literature. If the court needed an expert to testify that person is a professor of literature or a literary critic. A theologian cannot judge a piece of fiction." The case against him pointed to depictions of the Prophet Mohammad and his family that the prosecutor said was insulting to Islam. "The enemies of the Prophet Mohammad also have a place in the book," he said. "Of course, the enemies of Mohammad will not say nice things, but no one is commenting on religion or the prophet.

The court case is Gursel's third in Turkey. His first book was censored by security forces during Turkey's 1980 Army coup, when he compared the Army forces to Mongols.

Mavi Boncuk |
Turkish Court Acquits Author By SEBNEM ARSU NYTimes Published: June 25, 2009
A court in Istanbul on Thursday acquitted a Turkish writer who was accused of inciting religious hatred in a novel based on the birth of Islam. Nedim Gursel’s [1] “Daughters of Allah,” was published last year in Turkey. The case came to trial after Ali Emre Bukagili, a member of a group that has campaigned against the theory of evolution, said that Mr. Gursel used inappropriate language against the Prophet Muhammad, his wives and the Koran that could not be interpreted as freedom of expression. Mr. Gursel, who holds French citizenship, could have faced at least a year in prison. He has said such trials damage Turkey’s chances for membership in the European Union.

[1]Nedim Gürsel (born April 5, 1951, in Gaziantep) is a Turkish writer. In the late 1960s, he published novellas and essays in Turkish magazines. After graduating from Galatasaray High School in 1970, he studied at the Sorbonne. In 1974, he graduated from the Sorbonne's Department of Modern French Literature.[1] In 1979, he received his doctorate in comparative literature after completing his dissertation on Louis Aragon and Nazim Hikmet.[More from Wikipedia]

Allah'in Kizlari (The Daughters of Allah), 2008

A Religious Affairs Directorate high committee has severely criticized the book "Daughters of Allah" written by Nedim Gürsel and published by the Doğan publishing house.

’Daughters of Allah’ nets bad review from officials The committee was responding to a inquiry from a reader and drafted a one-page report to express its views regarding the book’s content. The committee concluded that the book was sarcastic and said it overstepped the boundaries of criticism, reported daily Milliyet yesterday. The reader, Ali Emre Bukağılı, sent two faxes to the committee in February, seeking its opinion about "Daughters of Allah." The report, signed by the committee’s Vice chairman Professor Hamza Aktan, was sent to the reader.
"It has been found that the book was insulting and sarcastic, humiliating Allah, its prophets, divine religions, worshipping, holy books and religious principles. This cannot be explained in the scope of freedom of thought or criticism," the report read.